NicoMoon
10-25-2005, 12:00 AM
Someone just explained to me why a good amount of time was wasted today in trying to come up with a clear and concise message for a fund-raising t-shirt design.
It turns out that the issue at hand, unknown to me, was a problem with the use of the most evident and illustrative word......PET. Hence, at last review, the politically "correct" t-shirt slogan becomes a vague and confusing attempt to say something without really saying it. Time, energy, and contributions lost to the cause of deliberate confusion and misguided sabotage!!
The explanation I received was a very cordial one, in which I was informed that the use of the word "PET" is the cause of the lost and abandoned animal crisis in New Orleans. It seems that because PET owners think of their PETS as PETS, they don't respect or love them appropriately, and therefore felt comfortable to abandon them, so we must correct their misguided and arrogant ways by ceasing to refer to our companion animals as PETS.
Well, excuse the hell out of me, but I don't feel the urge to educate, illuminate, train, or chastize anyone whose circumstances I do not know, beyond the evident, that they faced life threatening choices by acts of nature and government that were out of their immediate control. Nor do I wish to challenge the dictionary right at this moment.
I don't have any special and important lessons to teach any of those people, especially not by the sudden boycott of a commonly used, clearly understood, and completely uncontroversial but effective word. Who among us really in conscience or common sense does?
Every successful marketing campaign that is targetted to the caretakers (dare I say "owners") of domesticated animals recognizes the pragmatic function of the word PET. That is what we who love and care for them call those furry creatures who share our space and for whom we have taken responsibility.
Pitbull fighters do not refer to the tormented dogs they torture and kill as PETS. People who love our animal family members do.
Poltical "correctness" has proved itself to be not far off from fanaticism. I have never known it to serve any useful function, but I have experienced it to be divisive, counter-productive, destructive, and an amazing waste of precious time.
To me, every moment wasted during this unique time of urgent and immediate need equates to a precious animal lost. To discover that I wasted my own and that of a number of dedicated volunteer's precious time, energy and focus in service to total ridiculousness really infuriates me.
If I had known the reason that there was so much back and forth about the wording of a fund raising t-shirt was due to some squeaky wheel, politically "correct" fanatical pressure campaign I would have raised bloody hell.
So, here I am, now that I've been illuminated, raising bloody hell. I am here, behind ARNO and any and all animal rescuers 150%. But, I will not align myself with this kind of nonsense.
Friends, (dare I venture to use such a potentially offensive word?)
Screw political "correctness"! Could we get this job done? I consider and hope that my time spent constructing this rant is well spent, in service to sanity.
Responsible, loving, caring, servant to four feline royal and beloved PETS, and passionate activist in service to all lost and abandoned animals, creatures, and beings,
Nico Moon
It turns out that the issue at hand, unknown to me, was a problem with the use of the most evident and illustrative word......PET. Hence, at last review, the politically "correct" t-shirt slogan becomes a vague and confusing attempt to say something without really saying it. Time, energy, and contributions lost to the cause of deliberate confusion and misguided sabotage!!
The explanation I received was a very cordial one, in which I was informed that the use of the word "PET" is the cause of the lost and abandoned animal crisis in New Orleans. It seems that because PET owners think of their PETS as PETS, they don't respect or love them appropriately, and therefore felt comfortable to abandon them, so we must correct their misguided and arrogant ways by ceasing to refer to our companion animals as PETS.
Well, excuse the hell out of me, but I don't feel the urge to educate, illuminate, train, or chastize anyone whose circumstances I do not know, beyond the evident, that they faced life threatening choices by acts of nature and government that were out of their immediate control. Nor do I wish to challenge the dictionary right at this moment.
I don't have any special and important lessons to teach any of those people, especially not by the sudden boycott of a commonly used, clearly understood, and completely uncontroversial but effective word. Who among us really in conscience or common sense does?
Every successful marketing campaign that is targetted to the caretakers (dare I say "owners") of domesticated animals recognizes the pragmatic function of the word PET. That is what we who love and care for them call those furry creatures who share our space and for whom we have taken responsibility.
Pitbull fighters do not refer to the tormented dogs they torture and kill as PETS. People who love our animal family members do.
Poltical "correctness" has proved itself to be not far off from fanaticism. I have never known it to serve any useful function, but I have experienced it to be divisive, counter-productive, destructive, and an amazing waste of precious time.
To me, every moment wasted during this unique time of urgent and immediate need equates to a precious animal lost. To discover that I wasted my own and that of a number of dedicated volunteer's precious time, energy and focus in service to total ridiculousness really infuriates me.
If I had known the reason that there was so much back and forth about the wording of a fund raising t-shirt was due to some squeaky wheel, politically "correct" fanatical pressure campaign I would have raised bloody hell.
So, here I am, now that I've been illuminated, raising bloody hell. I am here, behind ARNO and any and all animal rescuers 150%. But, I will not align myself with this kind of nonsense.
Friends, (dare I venture to use such a potentially offensive word?)
Screw political "correctness"! Could we get this job done? I consider and hope that my time spent constructing this rant is well spent, in service to sanity.
Responsible, loving, caring, servant to four feline royal and beloved PETS, and passionate activist in service to all lost and abandoned animals, creatures, and beings,
Nico Moon